Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 1,014 Shares of Deere & Company $DE

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,547 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $21,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DE. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,737,000 after buying an additional 30,553 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after buying an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 14.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,682,000 after buying an additional 2,702 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 7.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $755,385,000 after buying an additional 115,975 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $680.00 price objective (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.5%

Deere & Company stock opened at $577.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $155.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $573.27 and a 200-day moving average of $548.89. Deere & Company has a one year low of $433.00 and a one year high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.71%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.